Penguins End Capitals’ Streak

The Washington Capitals knew it had to end sometime. They just wish it hadn’t ended this way--with too many breakdowns and too many Pittsburgh Penguin breakaways.

Martin Straka scored two goals Tuesday night and the Penguins halted the Capitals’ unbeaten streak at 11, the longest in the NHL this season, with a 3-2 victory at Pittsburgh.

The Capitals took 15 shots in the first period, then managed only 12 more against Jean Sebastien-Aubin in their first loss since a 3-1 defeat to the Atlanta Thrashers on Jan. 6. They were 10-0-1 since then, improving from three games under .500 to seven over.

“It was fun. We were rolling like a snowball,” said Peter Bondra, who assisted on both Washington goals. “We were trying to catch the teams that before Christmas were 20 points ahead of us. Now, we’ve closed the gap.”

So have the Penguins, who found themselves slipping out of playoff contention during a 1-7-1 slide. But they have since scored one-goal victories on consecutive nights.

Phoenix 1, San Jose 0--Defenseman Keith Carney scored his second goal of the season 1:32 into overtime at San Jose.

The Coyotes picked up their 14th road victory, second most in the league, despite being outshot, 34-15. Bob Essensa had 34 saves in his first shutout of the season and 17th of his career.

St. Louis 5, Calgary 4--Pavol Demitra scored two goals at Calgary, including the winner in overtime, as the Blues won their fourth in a row.

A pass from Michal Handzus sent Demitra in on a breakaway and he beat Fred Brathwaite on a shot between the pads at 2:02.

The victory moved St. Louis past the Detroit Red Wings into first place in the Western Conference.

Colorado 2, Vancouver 1--Joe Sakic had a goal and an assist, and Patrick Roy made 36 saves for the Avalanche at Denver.

Colorado, which extended its home unbeaten streak to 11 games (9-0-2), played most of the last two periods without star forward Peter Forsberg. He suffered a mild concussion and a cut near his right eye that required seven stitches.

Roy’s victory was the 431st of his career, leaving him only three shy of Jacques Plante, who is second on the all-time list. Terry Sawchuk leads with 447.

Carolina 4, Florida 2--Sami Kapanen and Tommy Westlund scored in a two-minute span in the second period to lead the Hurricanes at Raleigh, N.C.

Florida’s Pavel Bure, who had 28 goals and 20 assists in his last 27 games, was held without a point.

Ottawa 4, Boston 4--Radek Bonk’s goal with 33 seconds to play gave the Senators a tie at Kanata, Canada.

Toronto 5, Tampa Bay 3--Wendel Clark had two goals, including the go-ahead tally with 5:45 left in the third period, as the Maple Leafs rallied from a three-goal deficit at Tampa, Fla.